Thread by @WHO

Live with @DrTedros on health security from the @MunSecConf. #MSC2020 pscp.tv/w/cRfw6TI2MTAy…

@DrTedros @MunSecConf Yesterday I was in Kinshasa, in #DRC, meeting with the President & other senior ministers to review progress against the #Ebola outbreak & to work together on a plan to strengthen 🇨🇩’s health system so that it never sees another outbreak like this again”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020

@DrTedros @MunSecConf "I’d like to thank the 🇨🇩 President for his leadership & for his vision of a healthier & safer #DRC"-@DrTedros at #MSC2020

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “We are finally starting to see the possibility of ending this #Ebola outbreak in #DRC, after more than 18 months & the loss of 2,249 lives. In the past week there has been just 1 case, compared with 120 cases a week at the peak of the outbreak in April”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “This epidemic stands in stark contrast to the previous #Ebola outbreak in the western part of DRC in 2018, an area that is relatively stable and peaceful. That outbreak was controlled in just three months”-@DrTedros at #MSN2020

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “This experience illustrates a key lesson of history: disease and insecurity are old friends.”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “It was no coincidence:
•the 1918 #flu pandemic erupted in the middle of the WW I
•the final frontier for eradicating #polio is in the most insecure regions of 🇵🇰 & 🇦🇫
•#Ebola has spread in the most insecure region of DRC”
-@DrTedros #MSC2020

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “Without peace, health can be an unattainable dream.
But the opposite can also be true: epidemics have the potential to cause severe political, economic & social instability & insecurity”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “Health security is therefore not just the health sector’s business. It’s everybody’s business”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “There are 3⃣ main scenarios in which a coordinated response between the health & security sectors is essential:
1⃣ high-impact epidemics in situations of conflict and insecurity, such as #Ebola"-@DrTedros at #MSC2020

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “In the last few years, 80% of outbreaks requiring an international response have occurred in countries affected by fragility, conflict and insecurity"-@DrTedros at #MSC2020

@DrTedros @MunSecConf "2⃣ The emergence of a pathogen with pandemic potential, moving rapidly from country to country and requiring an immediate and large-scale response in countries”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1228681580018835456?s=20

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “3⃣ the deliberate or accidental release of biological agents – a hopefully rare event for which we must nonetheless be prepared”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1228681580018835456?s=20

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “The second of these 3⃣ scenarios is what we are seeing now with the outbreak of #COVID19.
With 99% of cases in #China🇨🇳, this is still very much an emergency for that country”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020 #coronavirus

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “Let me be clear: it is impossible to predict which direction this #COVID19 outbreak will take.
What I can tell you is what encourages us, and what concerns us”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020 #coronavirus

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “We are encouraged that the steps #China has taken to contain the #COVID19 outbreak at its source appear to have bought the world time, even though those steps have come at great cost to 🇨🇳 itself”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020 #coronavirus

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “We’re encouraged that outside #China, we have not yet seen widespread #COVID19 community transmission”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “We’re encouraged that the global research community has come together to identify and accelerate the most urgent research needs for #COVID19 diagnostics, treatments and vaccines”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020 #coronavirus

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “We’re encouraged that we have been able to ship #COVID19 diagnostic kits, as well as supplies of masks, gloves, gowns and other personal protective equipment to some of the countries that need it most”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020 #coronavirus

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “We’re encouraged that an international team of experts is now on the ground in #China, working closely with their Chinese counterparts to understand the #COVID19 outbreak, and to inform the next steps in the global response”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020 #coronavirus

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “But we also have several concerns.
We’re concerned by the continued increase in the number of #COVID19 cases in #China”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020 #coronavirus

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “We’re concerned by reports from China yesterday about the number of health workers who have been infected or have died”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020 on #COVID19 #coronavirus

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “We’re concerned by the lack of urgency in funding the #COVID19 response”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020 #coronavirus

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “We’re concerned about the severe disruption in the market for personal protective equipment, which is putting front line health workers and carers at risk”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020 on #COVID19 #coronavirus

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “We’re concerned about the level of rumours and misinformation that are hampering the #COVID19 response”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020 #coronavirus

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “And most of all, we’re concerned about the potential havoc this #coronavirus could wreak in countries with weaker health systems”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020 on #COVID19

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “The outbreaks of both #Ebola and #COVID19 underscore once again the vital importance for all countries to invest in preparedness, not panic”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020 #coronavirus

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “Two years ago, @WHO & @WorldBank founded the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, an independent body to assess the state of the 🌎’s readiness for a pandemic.
Last year the board published its 1st report, which concluded the world remains dangerously unprepared.”-@DrTedros

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “For too long, the world has operated on a cycle of panic and neglect. We throw money at an outbreak, and when it’s over, we forget about it and do nothing to prevent the next one”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “The 🌎 spends billions of 💵 preparing for a terrorist attack, but relatively little preparing for the attack of a 🦠, which could be far more deadly & far more damaging economically, politically & socially”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “This is frankly difficult to understand, and dangerously short-sighted”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1228683565648535554?s=20

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “Today, I have 3⃣ requests for the international community.
1⃣ we must use the window of opportunity we have to intensify our preparedness”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020 on #COVID19 #coronavirus

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “🇨🇳 has bought the world time. We don’t know how much time.
All countries must be prepared for the arrival of #COVID19 cases, to treat patients with dignity and compassion, and to prevent onward transmission & to protect healthworkers”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020 #coronavirus

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “WHO is working with manufacturers & distributors of personal protective equipment to ensure a reliable supply of the tools health workers need to do their job safely and effectively”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020 on #COVID19 #coronavirus

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “We’re not just fighting an epidemic; we’re fighting an infodemic.
Fake news spreads faster and more easily than this #coronavirus & is just as dangerous”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020 #COVID19

@DrTedros @MunSecConf “That’s why we’re also working with search & media companies like @Facebook, @Google, @Pinterest, @TencentGlobal, @Twitter, @tiktok_us, @YouTube and others to counter the spread of rumours & misinformation”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020 on #COVID19 #coronavirus #KnowtheFacts

@DrTedros @MunSecConf @Facebook @Google @Pinterest @TencentGlobal @Twitter @tiktok_us @YouTube “We call on all governments, companies and news organizations to work with us to sound the appropriate level of alarm, without fanning the flames of hysteria.”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020 on #COVID19 #coronavirus

@DrTedros @MunSecConf @Facebook @Google @Pinterest @TencentGlobal @Twitter @tiktok_us @YouTube “2⃣ this is not a job for the health minister alone. It takes a whole-of-government approach.
But that approach must be coherent and coordinated, guided by evidence and public health priorities”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020 on #COVID19 #coronavirus

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1228683737568874496?s=20

@DrTedros @MunSecConf @Facebook @Google @Pinterest @TencentGlobal @Twitter @tiktok_us @YouTube “In many countries, measures have been taken by one part of government without appropriate consultation with the health ministry, or consideration of the impact of those measures”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020 on #COVID19 #coronavirus

@DrTedros @MunSecConf @Facebook @Google @Pinterest @TencentGlobal @Twitter @tiktok_us @YouTube “Now more than ever is the time for us to let science and evidence lead policy.
If we don’t, we are headed down a dark path that leads nowhere but division and disharmony”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020 on #COVID19 #coronavirus

@DrTedros @MunSecConf @Facebook @Google @Pinterest @TencentGlobal @Twitter @tiktok_us @YouTube “3⃣ we must be guided by solidarity, not stigma.
The greatest enemy we face is not the #coronavirus itself; it’s the stigma that turns us against each other. We must stop stigma and hate!”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020 on #COVID19

https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1228683737568874496?s=20

@DrTedros @MunSecConf @Facebook @Google @Pinterest @TencentGlobal @Twitter @tiktok_us @YouTube “Too much has been written & said about my praise for 🇨🇳.
I have given credit where it’s due & I will continue to do that, as I would for any country that fights an outbreak aggressively at its source to protect its own people & the 🌎, even at great cost to itself”-@DrTedros

@DrTedros @MunSecConf @Facebook @Google @Pinterest @TencentGlobal @Twitter @tiktok_us @YouTube “It’s easy to blame. It’s easy to politicize. It’s harder to tackle a problem together, and find solutions together.
We will all learn lessons from this #COVID19 outbreak. But now is not the time for recriminations or politicization”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020 #coronavirus

@DrTedros @MunSecConf @Facebook @Google @Pinterest @TencentGlobal @Twitter @tiktok_us @YouTube “We have a choice. Can we come together to face a common and dangerous enemy? Or will we allow fear, suspicion and irrationality to distract and divide us?”-DrTedros at #MSC2020 on #COVID19 #coronavirus

@DrTedros @MunSecConf @Facebook @Google @Pinterest @TencentGlobal @Twitter @tiktok_us @YouTube “In our fractured and divided 🌎, health is one of the few areas in which international cooperation offers the opportunity for countries to work together for a common cause”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020 on #COVID19 #coronavirus

@DrTedros @MunSecConf @Facebook @Google @Pinterest @TencentGlobal @Twitter @tiktok_us @YouTube “This is a time for facts, not fear.
This is a time for rationality, not rumours.
This is a time for solidarity, not stigma”-@DrTedros at #MSC2020 on #COVID19 #coronavirus